Spring Break
Ohio to pilot post secondary option
Strickland proposal to allow high schoolers to opt out of senior year
Rebecca Kelley
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: Community
Miami University students may be seeing more young faces around campus if Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has his way.
Strickland proposed during his 2008 State of the State address a "Seniors to Sophomores" program-a system where eligible high school seniors would attend an Ohio public university for free.
According to Amanda Wurst, deputy communications director for Strickland, under this program, students would take a full load of classes at the university, graduate high school and essentially enter college as a sophomore.
"Students would be able to get a full year of college under their belt," Wurst said.
This early college program is similar to the post secondary enrollment option offered in some public schools, and according to the State of the State address, Strickland is looking to build upon this idea for his new proposal.
"(Post secondary) programs like this have been successful in the past," Wurst said.
Wurst said the program is set to start in the fall with a pilot group of schools, and then it will extend across Ohio the following year. She said the list of pilot high schools is currently being compiled and that these schools would correspond to the local college or university of the city.The requirements for an eligible student have not yet been determined, according to Wurst. However, the eligibility would most likely vary from school to school.
"Schools and colleges will actually work together at the local level to determine what the requirements will be," Wurst said.
The funding for this program is still being worked out, Wurst explained. The students will be able to attend the universities free of cost, but how the funding is going to be split up between the public schools and the universities will be left up to the schools themselves.
"The schools and the university will develop a partnership to ensure there is equitable share of the money," Wurst said.
This initiative will greatly impact both Talawanda High School and Miami, according to Holli Morrish, community relations coordinator at the Talawanda School District.
Strickland proposed during his 2008 State of the State address a "Seniors to Sophomores" program-a system where eligible high school seniors would attend an Ohio public university for free.
According to Amanda Wurst, deputy communications director for Strickland, under this program, students would take a full load of classes at the university, graduate high school and essentially enter college as a sophomore.
"Students would be able to get a full year of college under their belt," Wurst said.
This early college program is similar to the post secondary enrollment option offered in some public schools, and according to the State of the State address, Strickland is looking to build upon this idea for his new proposal.
"(Post secondary) programs like this have been successful in the past," Wurst said.
Wurst said the program is set to start in the fall with a pilot group of schools, and then it will extend across Ohio the following year. She said the list of pilot high schools is currently being compiled and that these schools would correspond to the local college or university of the city.The requirements for an eligible student have not yet been determined, according to Wurst. However, the eligibility would most likely vary from school to school.
"Schools and colleges will actually work together at the local level to determine what the requirements will be," Wurst said.
The funding for this program is still being worked out, Wurst explained. The students will be able to attend the universities free of cost, but how the funding is going to be split up between the public schools and the universities will be left up to the schools themselves.
"The schools and the university will develop a partnership to ensure there is equitable share of the money," Wurst said.
This initiative will greatly impact both Talawanda High School and Miami, according to Holli Morrish, community relations coordinator at the Talawanda School District.
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